Hockey rink board

ABSTRACT

Panel sections stand end to end to form a wall around a hockey rink or the like. Each panel has a central post for holding it upright and for pivoting it into alignment with similar panels to form a wall. The end of each panel has means for interlocking with an adjacent panel so as to secure it against rotation and to keep it in alignment with others so they present a smooth surface to the hockey rink side of the wall.

United States Patent 11 1 Cleather et al. ..272/3 Nickolas [4 Apr. 17, 1973 HOCKEY RINK BOARD 2,205,398 6/1940 Eaton .272/3 2,335,433 11/1943 Minck .52/602 x [75] f Arthur Nlckqlas Mequon 2,867,857 1/1959 McCarthy.... .....52/584 x [73] Assignee: Ice Crafts, Inc., Mequon; Wis. 3,093,363 6 1963 BOhOn ..256 26 [22] Flled: Sept 1970 Primary Examiner-Dennis L. Taylor App]. No.: 69,663

Attorny-Wiviott and Hohenfeldt [57] TRACT Panel sections stand end to end to form a wall around a hockey rink or the like. Each panel has a central post for holding it upright and for pivoting it into alignment with similar panels to form a wall. The end of each panel has means for interlocking with an adjacent panel so as to secure it against rotation and to keep it in alignment with othersso they present a smooth surface to the hockey rink side of the wall.

9 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEU 1 3.727. 888

Sum 1 UF 2 ARTHUR J. NQCKOLAS Attorney HOCKEY Rink BOARD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Ice hockey is usually played in buildings or arenas which are used for other purposes. Consequently, it is necessary to periodically remove and reinstall the wall which defines the hockey rink and separates the rink from the spectators. This wall is usually made up of panel sections which are placed end to end and coupled together at their joints. These panels are often secured at their bases with anchor bolts and sometimes there are many posts placed around the rink to which the panels may be clamped for preventing them from being tipped over.

Erecting the panel sections, or hockey boards as they are commonly called and will hereafter be called, has heretofore been a slow and laborious process. Several workers have been required to hold up the hockey boards and align them with others while they are being secured by tightening nuts and bolts and clamps. An inordinate amount of manpower has also been required for dismantling the hockey boards and converting the ice rink to other purposes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages by providing a hockey board which can be installed and dismantled easily, quickly and with a minimum of manpower.

A further object is to provide hockey board sections which are adapted for sustaining themselves in an upright position when they are set into place and which are adapted for rotation about a central support which facilitates lining up the boards and coupling them with abutting adjacent boards.

A further object is to provide hockey boards which have interlocking end coupling members that add rigidity to the boards in the vicinity of their joints while at the same time they compel adjacent boards to be flush and smooth on their inside face at the joints.

Briefly stated, the invention involves a hockey board comprising a rectangular wood frame on which a smooth panel is fastened on the side which faces the ice rink. Midway between the ends of the board there is a vertical post which extends out of the bottom plate of the frame. A series of sockets are permanently located in the floor on a line that outlines the ice rink. The panels are distributed about the rink and laid flatly on the floor. They are then tilted upwardly one by one so that their post extensions enter the sockets and maintain the hockey boards in an upright position after which they may be turned consecutively into alignment with each other and securely clamped. The ends of the sections have complementary coupling members which interengage with each other.

How the foregoing objects and other more specific objects are achieved will appear from time to time throughout the course of the ensuing description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an elevation view of a typical connected series of hockey board sections surrounding an ice rink as viewed from the spectators side;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of one of the hockey board sections shown in the preceding figure;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken on a line corresponding with 33 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on an irregular line corresponding with 4-4! in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical cross-section of the ice rink and the concrete floor in which the board supporting sockets are mounted;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-section taken either in front or behind the section in the preceding figure and showing how the permanently affixed angle irons which define the periphery of the ice rink are supported;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal cross-section taken on a line 7--7 in FIG. I and showing how the ends of the hockey boards are coupled and clamped together; and

FIG. 8 is a horizontal cross-section taken on a line corresponding with 88 in FIG. I and showing the details of the end coupling members of the board.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. ll shows hockey board panel sections installed as they would be around an ice rink and as viewed from outside of the rink. The panel sections such as 10 and 11 making up the hockey board are each supported on a central post 12. The ends of adjacent panel sections III and II abut in the vicinity of reference numeral 13 where they form an interlocking coupling as will be described. Some sections may have screens 66 standing on their tops and others may have transparent plastic shields to protect spectators without obstructing their view.

The general features of an illustrative hockey board panel 10 will now be described in reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. It will be understood, however, that some of the hockey board sections may be of more specialized configuration than the planar section 10 shown in FIG. 2. For instance, some of the sections which embody the novel supporting and couplingmeans constituting the invention may be curved in their vertical planes as is required for surrounding the end zone of the rink.

Some of the sections may be longer or shorter to integrate with gates, not shown, which are necessary to permit entry and exit of the players.

In FIG. 2, the frame of a section comprises a base plate I4 which is typically made of wood 2 inches thick,

. 6 inches wide and about 12 feet long. An upright member H5 at the left and another 16 at the right constitute the ends of the section. Members 15 and 16 are of specialized design as will be discussed in detail later. Upright members and 16 are spanned by horizontal cross members 118 and 19 which may be joined with the uprights in any suitable manner. The frame is further reinforced and tied together by vertical wood members 20 22, for example. There is also a centrally located board 23 which is substantially equal in length to the height of the section. The top of the frame is tied together with a horizontal board 24 which spans the length of the panel.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, all of the members which have been described are flush on one face so that they may have a panel 25 fastened to them with glue, screws or other suitable means, not shown. Panel 25 is preferably moisture resistant plywood which is faced on its outside with a smooth plastic facing sheet 26. The

top of the section is finished with a rail 27 which may be fastened to underlying board 24 by means of waterproof glue or screws and the like.

Referring back to FIG. 2, one may see that the corners of the frame are reinforced with rustproofed angle irons 28 whose horizontal leg is fastened to guard rail 27 with flat head machine bolts 29 and whose vertical leg is fastened with three bolts 30 which can be seen best in FIG. 4. In the latter figure, one may also see that angle iron 28 has a hole 31 which lines up with a hole 32 extending through vertical end members 15 and 16. Both upper comers of the panel section in FIG. 2 are similarly equipped with angle iron reinforcing members Horizontal wooden members l4, 18, 19 and 24 have vertical holes 34 at their mid-points. These holes are vertically aligned to receive the pipe post 12 which has a bottom extension 12 and whose top end abuts against the bottom of rails 27 of the section. This is preferably rustproof pipe and in a commercial embodiment is nominally 15% inches in diameter. Post 12 serves as a support and as a vertical axis for rotating panel sections such as into alignment with each other for interlocking with adjacent panels to form a hockey board around the perimeter of the hockey rink.

The righthand vertical member 16 forming part of the frame for panel section 10 in FIG. 2 is shown in cross-section in FIG. 8. This cross-section is taken on a line 8-8 near the bottom of adjacent sections 10 and 11 in FIG. 1. FIG. 8 shows the manner in which the end of a panel section, such as 10, is interlocked with the end of an adjacent panel section 11 when the sections are rotated on their vertical pipes 12 into alignment. Each end member has two offset beveled surfaces 35 and 36 separated by a straight shoulder 37. The interlocking end members may be made in two parts, one of which is marked 38 and has beveled surface 36 formed on it. The other part 39 has the one beveled surface 35 and a plane surface which interfaces along the dashed line 40 with the plane surface of member 38. The two beveled parts 38 and 39 are preferably joined at the interface 40 with waterproof glue to form a unitary upright member 16. The unitary end member 16 is preferably glued to the back of panel 25 at the interface 41. It will be understood that upright end members such as 16 could be made as a single piece with beveled surfaces 35 and 36 shaped out.

The interlocking vertical end member on the adjacent panel section 11 is generally designated by the reference numeral 42, FIG. 8. Member 42 is complementary with member I6 and is reversely oriented in FIG. 8 so that its narrower end may be glued to the back of panel 25 at the interface 43. It is easy to see that when adjacent panels such as 10 and 11 are rotated on their supporting posts 12 that the adjacent beveled surfaces 35 and 36 and shoulders 37 will abut at which time the facing sheets 26 of the panels 10 and 11 will be flush with each other. Note that the uprights and 42 are so shaped that one will pass the other until they reach home position whereupon the mating surfaces to beveled surfaces 35 and 36 and shoulder 37 abut.

It should be observed in FIG. 8 that the left interlocking member 16 would be on the right end of the section shown in FIG. 2. The right member 42 in FIG. 8

would, on the other hand, be the same as that on the left end of the next adjacent panel section 11 to the right of section 10 and it would be the same as the left upright 15 on section 10 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 shows how a typical panel section 10, which is shown in phantom, is erected at the edge of the ice rink. The ice slab is marked 45. There is a concrete substrate 46 on which the ice slab is formed. Embedded in concrete 46 are coils 47 in which cold brine is circulated to convert water into ice. An angle iron 48 has its horizontal leg flush with the top of the ice slab and its vertical leg set in concrete 46. Angle iron 48 extends all around the perimeter of the ice rink and serves as one part of a flat surface on which panel sections 10 and the like may be supported. By referring to FIG. 6, one may see that the angle iron perimeter 48 is further stabilized by periodically located Z-shaped members 49 whose lower ends are embedded in concrete 46.

Referring again to FIG. 5, one may see that there is another perimetrical angle iron 50 placed back-to-back in relation to angle iron 48 and there is an expansion strip 56 of polyurethane or the like between the angle irons. Angle iron 50 is also embedded in concrete 51 which constitutes a substrate for finished flooring not shown, outside of the ice rink. Concrete layer 51 is supported on an insulating layer or ground 68. At intervals coinciding with the center-to-center distances between adjacent panel sections, angle 50 is provided with pipe sockets 52 which have a cap 53 threaded on their ends. The pipe sockets 52 are welded on their top end circularly at 54 around where the socket passes through the horizontal leg of angle 50. The socket is further welded to the vertical leg of angle 50 such as at 55. The lower extension 12' of the panel section supporting post 12 extends into socket 52 and the smooth bottom plate 14 of the panel section bears evenly on the top horizontal legs of angle irons 48 and 50.

When all of the panel sections are positioned as suggested in FIG. 5 they are held erect by their posts 12 engaging in sockets 52. These sections may then be rotated into alignment horizontally on the vertical axes of supporting posts 12. When adjacent panels such as 10 and 11 are rotated into alignment and interlock as described in connection with FIG. 8, they may be rigidified as a unit and supported against rotation by hardware which is shown in FIG. 7. This figure shows how panel section end members 16 and 42 are secured. This is done with a pair of L-shaped members 57 and 58 over which a generally U-shaped member 59 is fitted. The vertical interlocking members 16 and 42 are provided with horizontal holes 60 and 61, respectively, as can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 7. Suitably aligned holes in sides of L-shaped members 57 and 58 and U-shaped member 59 permit passing a bolt 62 through these members and the interlocking members 16 and 42. U- shaped member 59 has a double offset 63 at its back which creates a vertical channel 64 in which a post 65 may be inserted for further tightening the coupling and for supporting other objects above the plane of top guard rail 27 of the panel sections.

Another set of hardware such as that described in connection with FIG. 7 may be used to clamp adjacent panel sections into interlocking abutment. For this purpose, angles 28 which reinforce the upper corners of the panel sections, are provided with holes 31 in their downwardly extending legs. These holes align with holes 32 in vertical members and 16 and the like. Metal clamping members such as are shown in FIG. 7 may then be slipped over the outside faces of angles 28 and a bolt such as 62 inserted through aligned holes 31 and 32. Thus, each interlocking joint between panel sections is clamped and bolted at two places.

The panel sections comprising the hockey board may be easily disassembled by removing the clamping bolts 62 and their associated hardware at which time the panel sections will be free for rotation out of interlocking engagement ontheir vertical supporting posts 12; The panel sections may then be lifted to remove the extension 12' from sockets 52 after which the panels may 'be laid on their faces and subsequently hauled away. After the ice melts and the water is drained away, other types of flooring can be installed over the space formerly occupied by the ice rink and the building may be used for other purposes.

An important and unobvious feature of an installation using the hockey boards described above is that the hockey board wall will spring out and then return to its original smoothly aligned form after it has been collided with by the players. Such deformation and restoration is possible because the central posts supporting the panels are capable of bending elastically and because the panels are interlocked so they tend to return to a position where they are flush with each other as they are when installed. This result is obtainable even though the panel section supporting posts are not all in the exact centers of the sections. That is, several posts may be inserted to support the panel sections with only the center one being used to rotate a section into alignment during installation.

It should also be noted that the new panel section end interlocking means are useful even when rotation on a central post is not utilized as may be the case when the hockey boards are used around so called portable rinks. Portable rinks are intended to be temporary and are usually built on ground in which case sockets are not used for holding the panel supporting posts. Several short posts are most commonly used instead and'these are merely driven into the ground and pass through appropriately aligned holes in the back of the panel sec tion. Before driving all the posts, the ends of adjacent panels are, of course, interlocked with the new interlocking means to assure proper alignment and stability during installation.

In view of the diverse constructions and uses of the invention, the embodiments discussed above are to be considered illustrative and the true scope of the invention is to be determined only by interpreting the claims which follow.

lclaim:

1. An enclosure comprising:

a. panel section means having ends intended for abutting alignment with adjacent sections,

b. a post that may be installed in a vertical orientation intermediate the ends of the section, the post being of such length as to extend from the bottom of the panel section, said section being rotatable in a horizontal plane about the axis of the post,

c.- coupling members at the opposite ends of the panel section means, the coupling member at one end of a panel having a beveled surface and the coupling member at the other end of a panel having a surface which is beveled complementarily to the beveled surface on the one end so that the beveled surfaces on opposite ends of adjacent panels will abut each other when a panel is rotated in one direction about the vertical post axis and so that the beveled surfaces will separate from each other without interference when a panel is rotated about said axis in an opposite direction.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein:

a. the beveled surfaces on the individual coupling members being discontinuous and offset from each other by a shoulder means which is adapted for abutting its complementary shoulder means on an adjacent panel.

3. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein:

a. the complementary coupling members each have a corresponding-hole through them, and

clamping means adapted to embrace a complementary pair of coupling members on adjacent panel sections, said clamping means having through holes which align with said holes in the coupling members for receiving a bolt means ther'ethrough, said clamping means having a vertically extending channel therein for receiving a vertically extending post on which objects may be supported above the panel section means. 4. The invention set forth in claim 1 in combination with:

a. a plurality of sockets permanently set in a surface of the area on which the panels are to be erected for forming a wall around the area, 7

b. the said post extensions being sized to fit into said sockets and thereby hold the panel sections upright for rotation in a horizontal plane.

5. A board for forming a wall around a predetermined area in conjunction with other adjacent boards comprising, v

a. a frame including horizontal members and upright end members,

b. a planar panel fastened to the frame with its ends coterminous with the end members,

c. one end member in the frame having a cross sectional configuration that is complementary to that of the other end member,

. the one end member having a vertical surface that is beveled in one horizontal direction and the other end member having a vertical surface that is beveled in the opposite horizontal direction so that the beveled surfaces may coincide when one frame is rotated in one direction about a vertical axis in a horizontal plane adjacent and in line with another frame and so that the beveled surfaces will pass each other without interference when said frame is rotated in the other direction,

e. certain of said horizontal members having vertical means for receiving a post therein, the said frame being rotatable around the post axis.

6. The invention set forth in claim 5 wherein:

a. said vertical beveled surface on each end member has one partoffset from the other part thereby defining a lateral shoulder, whereby one complementary shoulder will abut the other and stop rotation of a frame to establish its alignment with an adjacent frame.

7. The invention set forth in claim 5 including:

a. a U-shaped clamping member adapted to embrace rotated in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis into end-to-end relationship with at least another panel section means for being mutually supported therewith,

. means at the end of a panel section means that are adapted to interlock with similar means at the end of another adjacent panel section means, the interlock means having configurations which are complementary to each other and so shaped that one side of each panel section will be substantially flush with a corresponding side of the next adjacent panel section,

8. The invention set forth in claim in combination with:

a. socket means permanently set at spaced intervals on a line substantially defining the boundaries of a hockey rink,

. each said similar interlock means having beveled surfaces which are offset from each other to define b. post means extending from said post receiving a e Surface therebetweeh, the Stop surfaees means and beyond the bottom of each frame, the adlaeeht Ph abhmhg each other when adlaeem post means extension being receivable in said panel sections are flush, the beveled surfaces on Socket means for Supporting each fram one panel section passing the beveled surfaces on dividually and permitting its rotation in a horizonthe other penehsecnon wlthout mterfelience when tal plane to interlock with an adja e f a panel sectlon is rotated to separate said stop sur- 9. A hockey rink board or the like comprising: faces' a. panel section means which are adapted for being 

1. An enclosure comprising: a. panel section means having ends intended for abutting alignment with adjacent sections, b. a post that may be installed in a vertical orientation intermediate the ends of the section, the post being of such length as to extend from the bottom of the panel section, said section being rotatable in a horizontal plane about the axis of the post, c. coupling members at the opposite ends of the panel section means, the coupling member at one end of a panel having a beveled surface and the coupling member at the other end of a panel having a surface which is beveled complementarily to the beveled surface on the one end so that the beveled surfaces on opposite ends of adjacent panels will abut each other when a panel is rotated in one direction about the vertical post axis and so that the beveled surfaces will separate from each other without interference when a panel is rotated about said axis in an opposite direction.
 2. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein: a. the beveled surfaces on the individual coupling members being discontinuous and offset from each other by a shoulder means which is adapted for abutting its complementary shoulder means on an adjacent panel.
 3. The invention set forth in claim 1 wherein: a. the complementary coupling members each have a corresponding hole through them, and b. clamping means adapted to embrace a complementary pair of coupling members on adjacent panel sections, said clamping means having through holes which align with said holes in the coupling members for receiving a bolt means therethrough, said clamping means having a vertically extending channel therein for receiving a vertically extending post on which objects may be supported above the panel section means.
 4. The invention set forth in claim 1 in combination with: a. a plurality of sockets permanently set in a surface of the area on which the panels are to be erected for forming a wall around the area, b. the said post extensions being sized to fit into said sockets and thereby hold the panel sections upright for rotation in a horizontal plane.
 5. A board for forming a wall around a predetermined area in conjunction with other adjacent boards comprising, a. a frame including horizontal members and upright end members, b. a planar panel fastened to the frame with its ends coterminous with the end members, c. one end member in the frame having a cross sectional configuration that is complementary to that of the other end member, d. the one end member having a vertical surface that is beveled in one horizontal direction and the other end member having a vertical surface that is beveled in the opposite horizontal direction so that the beveled surfaces may coincide when one frame is rotated in one direction about a vertical axis in a horizontal plane adjacent and in line with another frame and so thAt the beveled surfaces will pass each other without interference when said frame is rotated in the other direction, e. certain of said horizontal members having vertical means for receiving a post therein, the said frame being rotatable around the post axis.
 6. The invention set forth in claim 5 wherein: a. said vertical beveled surface on each end member has one part offset from the other part thereby defining a lateral shoulder, whereby one complementary shoulder will abut the other and stop rotation of a frame to establish its alignment with an adjacent frame.
 7. The invention set forth in claim 5 including: a. a U-shaped clamping member adapted to embrace the vertical end members of adjacent frames therebetween, and bolt means extending through the end members and clamping members to secure adjacent frames against rotation in a horizontal plane, said U-shaped member having a vertically extending channel formed therein aligned with the joint between said beveled surfaces, said channel being adapted to receive a post therein.
 8. The invention set forth in claim 5 in combination with: a. socket means permanently set at spaced intervals on a line substantially defining the boundaries of a hockey rink, b. post means extending from said post receiving means and beyond the bottom of each frame, the post means extension being receivable in said socket means for supporting each frame individually and permitting its rotation in a horizontal plane to interlock with an adjacent frame.
 9. A hockey rink board or the like comprising: a. panel section means which are adapted for being rotated in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis into end-to-end relationship with at least another panel section means for being mutually supported therewith, b. means at the end of a panel section means that are adapted to interlock with similar means at the end of another adjacent panel section means, the interlock means having configurations which are complementary to each other and so shaped that one side of each panel section will be substantially flush with a corresponding side of the next adjacent panel section, c. each said similar interlock means having beveled surfaces which are offset from each other to define a stop surface therebetween, the stop surfaces on adjacent panels abutting each other when adjacent panel sections are flush, the beveled surfaces on one panel section passing the beveled surfaces on the other panel section without interference when a panel section is rotated to separate said stop surfaces. 